Re: RC: horse and trailer

[Kirsten Foruria <kirsten@vermilion.reno.nv.us>]

Maureen Mathisen wrote:

> OR--get someone to help you, have them hold the rope run through the
> front, and you take a long carriage whip and gently"tap" her on the rump
> over and over(DO NOT hit her, but just make it annoying"")  if this
> works, have the front person reward her , pass the rope toward the back,
> and try to control her so she gets out more slowly.

I have also used this method with 100% success and it usually works pretty quickly
too (one really tough case took about 45 minutes usually it takes maybe 5 or 10).
The only difference is that instead of tapping the rump, I usually tap around the
hocks and cannons (it seems to be slighly more annoying <G>).  The key is not to
force the horse in or out and to keep things calm and controlled. If a horse is
afraid and wants to back up, I let them back up (but I don't let them go). With
the tougher cases, I do actually use two ropes, one actually goes around the butt
and back up through the trailer.  The second is just a plain lead rope.  I don't
ever pull on the lead rope, I just use it to keep the horse facing the trailer
opening. You do need a second, knowledgeable person to handle the ropes while you
annoy (or vice-versa). I do use a little pressure on the butt rope, but the
primary impetus for moving forward is the annoying tap-tap-tap on the hocks and
cannons.

As far as rushing out, don't know if anyone else has suggested this, but even in a
slant load where there is room to turn the horse around and unload head first,
back the horse out anyway.  Backing helps keep them from getting pushy and
rushing.  Unfortunately you do have to be in the trailer with the horse to do
this.  If you have an escape door at the front for access, I'd go in there and
have someone else quietly open the main door while you've got the horse facing
forward.  Then slowly and calmly ask the horse to back out.  Don't let him (her?)
rush out or turn around. I have also often put a pasture buddy in the trailer
first.  Then load and unload while leaving the calm buddy in the trailer (those
schoolmasters are sure handy to have... mine's worth his weight in gold, or maybe
platinum given the current gold prices). You can even use a butt rope to help
here, but I find that horses don't tend to rush out backwards even when they are
scared since they can't see what's behind them. Once the horse loads and unloads
with this method, practice loading and unloading several times to build
confidence.

Hope this helps and good luck.

--
Kirsten (Price) Foruria
Vermilion Desert Ranch
Reno, Nevada



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